Improved wardrobe-bedstead



Vinilrd ginie-5 @anni (dimite.

SANFORD S. BURR,

Letters Patent No. 94,560, dated Septmnber 7, 1869 IMPROVEiD WARDROBE-BEDSTEAD.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part; bf the same.

"Z'o all to 'whom these presents shall come:

Be it known that we, SANFQRD S. BURR, of Dedham, in the county of Norfolk, and State of Massachusetts, and LEVI Pinnen, of Charlestown, inthe county of Middlesex, and State aforesaid, have made an invention of certain new and useful Improvements in Secretary or Wardrobe-Bcdsteads; and do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, due reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, and in which- Figure l is a perspective view of a secretary-bedfstead,`ernbodying the features of our invention, withr its bed-bottom lowered. f

Figure 2 is a vertical section of the said bedstead in a closed state, taken through one of its elevating-springs, to be hereinafter referred to.

The invention herein described', and which comprises the subject-matter of this patent, relates, primarily, to the construction of the shell or case of a secretary-bedstead, and the combination therewith of swinging doors, peculiarly arranged, and provided with mirrors, whereby perfect ventilation for the occupant of the bed is secured, and a duplex arrangement of mirrors obtained for performing` the toilet, the whole being as hereinafter explained.

And this invention further relates to a spring of peculiar form, whereby non-liability of fracture is se,- cured, and a spring produced which is eminently qualified to perform the office required of it, and which may be applied in an expeditious and' easy, as ivell as lasting manner,

And this invention further consists in the peculiar arrangement o f the supporting-legs', .with respect to the free end of the bed-bottom, whereby they may be folded tlatwise against the inner face of the foot-board ofthe same, in a compact manner, and so as to occupy,

no valuable space.

The above-mentioned features of our invention, as a whole, form an important improvement in the general construction of a class of bedsteads now coming into extensive use.

In the drawings before mentioned as accompanying this specification, and which illustrate our invention- A denotes the case or shell of a structure, whose exterior resembles in appearance that of an ordinary secretary or book-case, suchcase consisting of an upright rectangular portion, B, occupying the entire area ofthe structure, and a front olset or extension, C, the former being for receiving the swinging bed-bottom and its bedding, and the latter' the various toilet-articlesrcquired in a sleeping-apartment.

'lhe front of the main portion B of the structurels provided with two doors, H H, extending nearly or entirely frein its top to the upper part ofthe extension c, such doors being hinged to the case at their contiguous edges, and provided upon their outer sides each with a mirror, I or I'.

The upper part of the offset C contains a number of drawers, a a, Sto., which form convenient receptacles for various indispensable requisites. The lower part of the offset() is provided with two doors, b b, hinged to it in a suitable manner, the inner face of such doors being provided with a wash-stand,

folding table, or any analogous device.

The bed-bottom, to which allusion has before been made, is composed of a rectangular frame, c, of which d d are the longitudinalV side-rails, whose extremities are united by a foot-board, e, and head-board, f, the size of the frame c beingsuch as to be ,easily received within the bed-receiving enclosure B.

The springs hereinbelore mentioned, and as shown at g g, &c., in the drawings, are coiled springs, the extremities ofthe wire composing them being prolonged into a straight and lateral extension, It or h', such extensions ruiming in like directions, and substantially in the same piane, one being affixed to the bed-bottom C, at or near its lower outer part, while the opposite one is afiixed to an upright bar, j, extending across the bottom of the enclosure B, and at the rear side' thereof, the distance of the centre of the coiled springs from the extreme end of the bed-bottom' being equal, or thereabout, to the depth of the bed-receiving enclosure B, in order that when the bedbottom is lowered into a horizontal position, the portion below its springs shall extend across the said enclosure B.

The bed-bottom is to be provided with the customary bedding, which is secured in place thereon when in aperpendicular position, by elastic cords or other contrivances.

Any suitable number of the above-described springs is to be applied to the bed-bottom, and the case A, as explained, such springs serving as turning-points or hinges to the bed-bottom, and each receiving a horizontal rod or wire, k, which is extended through the entire series.

It will be obvious, that as the bed-bottom is lowered from a lvertical into a horizontal position, the prongs 7i. h of the springs g g will be caused to recede from one lanother in such a direction as to contract the coils of wire about therod k, and, by reducing the circumference of such coils, create a powerful strain upon the bed-bottom, or sufficiently so to elevate it from a horizontal to an upright position, with little or no extrane ous aid.

' The inner face of the free end or foot-board e of the bed-bottom is provided with two turn-down legs, l l',

one of the extremities of each leg being pivoted to the ends of said foot-board, as shown at m in the drawings.

Furthermore, each leg is provided with a ledge or s notch, n, formed thereupon, at such a distance from the pivot rm, that when lowered into a vertical position, as shown in iig. 1 of the drawings, a small space, a2,

shall be created between such ledge, fn., and the bottom of the foot-board.

with, `a small projecting ledge, p, being formed upon' the outer edge of said i-foot-board, to retain the turnbuttons in their proper place.

The outer ends vof the said turn-'buttons o o are caused to project inwardlybeyondthe inner face of thevfoot-board, byfrneans of springs, q q, applied as y shownin the `above-mentioned g. 5 of the drawings.

As the leg l is turned down intol a perpendicular position, the turn-button o, by the power of its spring;y

q, is turned hpon its pivot, al, and its'outer end'inlower edge of the foot-board, by which means such leg i is securely held in place while the bed-bottom is innse.

The turningthe'leg Zback to its place will be readily understood by intelligent persons. Y Y

The raisingand lowering ofthe bed-bottom, also, is so simple an act, that any one of ordinary intelligence will understand it without further explanation. v f S S, 83o., in the accompanying drawings, represent a plurality-of elastic balls or studs, appliedin asuitf.

able manner to the rea-r edgesof thecase A, for the purpose, as before alluded to, Yof" preventing injury to'A the wainscoting, walls, or other portions of an apartment. A Y

' lhe springs gg'possess the following advantages:

l They are extremely simple and cheap in construction;

are easily and expeditiously-applied, and, when-once fixed in position, require great force to displace them;

they are powerful in action, and will ontlast the bed- A bottom to which they are applied.

The disposition of the openspaces erdoor-ways in front of the case of the structure meets a want long tela-for some edicient means of Ventilating the interior of suchcase about-the heads of the occupants Vof the bed. .These 'open spaces, incase of sickness,

ore mentioned, obtain thorough ventilation for the bed and bedding while folded within the case, the doors H H being left slightly ajar for this purpose.

' The whole, general construction' of the device above` explainedA is at once ornamental and highly convenient,

andmay be produced kat very small comparative cost.

y We claim as our invention, and desire to secure by Letters latent of the United States, as follows: y serted between the projection n of said leg'and the v case, off-the springs 1 The combination, with the bed-botton1-and the g, and rod or rods upon which the same are mounted, arranged substantially as described, so as to constitute'the hinge around which theY 'p bed-bottom moves.

2.' The combination and arrangement of the legs l Z' and the turn-buttons o o', with respect to each other, and to-the foot-board f, essentially', and in man- Y ner, and for the purpose as herein shown anddescribed.

1 3; As'an improvement in secretary-bedsteads opening from\therear, a case or structure. containing the bed-bottom, and provided Ywith vapertures or openings at front, for purposes of ventilation and convenience, as described, such apertures being furnished with doors hinged to the structure'at theirinner edges, whether such doors be provided or not with mirrors, the whole being as'before set forth, v

` SANFORD S. BURR.

Witnessesz LEVI PIERCE. FRED. CURTIS, I

EDWARD GRIFFITH. 

